Hello. This week, I’m featuring a couple of books that I’ve requested from Net Galley. One came highly recommended by Nick of The Infinite Limits of Love blog and the other is one that I just stumbled upon during my Net Galley hunt. In any rate, both of these were wonderful reads.

Luck of the Draw
by Kate Clayborn
4/5 Stars

As a former corporate attorney in a world run by money and politics, Zoe has a lot of guilt burdening her shoulders. Winning the lottery have afforded her to quit her job. But idleness and boredom gave her too much time to think about her past sins. So much so that she’s started a jar of guilt instead of a jar of blessings.

One of those guilts is the O’Leary’s. They lost their son to a drug dependency from the pharmaceutical company she represented. He committed suicide. The way she handled the case has given her sleepless nights. She was callous about their grief. She wanted to make amends; apologize, at least. That brought her face to face with a taciturn, Aidan O’Leary – who just happens to be their son and the person who found his brother’s dead body.

Aidan wasn’t going to give her an easy out so he proposed that she stand in as a fake fiance, all because the owners of the camp he wanted to buy has a very staunch belief in family. The camp is a way for him to absolve of the guilt of losing his brother. It’s where they both grew up. Unfortunately, a lie is a lie, is a lie.

This book is more than just a tender, and at times, tumultuous romance. Zoe and Aiden were obnoxious together at first. The only thing they had in common was Aiden’s brother. Unfortunately, he was the burden of guilt that was sometimes too big for them to ignore.

Riven
by Roan Parrish
4/5 Stars

I’m a huge fan of Ms. Parrish. I haven’t read a book by her that I didn’t like. She conjures up the best, broken characters who find partners that will either save them or will be each other’s salvation. The same could be said for Theo & Caleb.

Theo is the lead singer for the band, Riven. He shot up to popularity and had become an instant celebrity. However, he’s not dealing well with fame. He’s a homebody; an introvert who prefers the quiet solitude of his apartment. On one of his rare breaks from touring, he stumbled upon Caleb singing all by himself at a bar. Their connection was instantaneous.

Caleb’s former life was sort of similar to Theo’s. But he let his celebrity status get the best of him and had turned to drugs and alcohol. He’s long since straightened out his life, though. But that doesn’t mean he’s willing to jump right back into the melee. And that’s exactly what he would be doing if he starts a relationship with Theo. Regardless of the sizzling chemistry between them.

Caleb was consumed with fear with the thought of a relationship with Theo. He’s terrified that being with him would bring back his old demons. So he was very skittish and would waffle between the intensity of his feeling towards Theo and feeling like he’s going to substitute one addiction for another.

Theo is such a sweet character. He understood the precarious situation Caleb was in. He knew he had to give him time to acclimate to the idea of them being together. But sometimes, he wasn’t a very patient person. I was frustrated with Caleb, though. the push and pull thing he put Theo through wasn’t a fun thing to witness. Otherwise, this book was a fantastic read. Roan Parrish does M/M romance well that it’s not hard not to get addicted.